Liqueur preparation from milk

ABSTRACT

A liqueur is prepared by fermenting a mixture of uncooked milk, alcohol, sugar, lemon and vanilla. No distillation is involved and all pure flavorings and colorings are utilized. After fermentation and filtration of solids, additional uncooked milk is added to the filtrate for a second fermentation step. The solids recovered after the filtration contain fat from the milk and may be used for other purposes.

United States Patent [1 1 Silby, deceased [4s] Aug. 21, 1973 LIQUEURPREPARATION FROM MILK 1 [75] Inventor: Harry Silby, deceased, late ofMiami,

Fla. by Mayme Silby, executrix [73] Assignee: Wire Sales Company,Chicago, Ill. 22 Filed: May 5, 1971 [21] Appl. No.: 140,370

Related US. Application Data [63] Continuation-impart of Ser. No.32,438, April 27,

1970, abandoned.

FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 1,942 1870 Great Britain 99134 OTHERPUBLICATIONS Heinstein et al.; Chemistry and Technology of Wines andLiquors, D. Van Nostrand Company, Inc. N.Y., 2nd Ed., 1948, pp 53-55 and217-225 Primary Examiner-David M. Naff Attorney-Beveridge & De Grandii7] ABSTRACT A liqueur is prepared by fermenting a mixture of uncookedmilk, alcohol, sugar, lemon; and vanilla. No distillation is involvedand all pure flavorings and colorings are utilized. After fermentationand filtration of solids, additional uncooked milk is added to thefiltrate for a second fermentation step. The solids recovered after thefiltration contain fat from the milk and may be used for other purposes.

12 Claims, No Drawings LIQUEUR PREPARATION FROM MILK This application isa continuation-impart of my copending application, Ser. No. 32,438,filed Apr. 27, 1970 and now abandoned, the full disclosure of which isrelied upon herein.

The present invention relates to the preparation of a liqueur fromnatural and pure food substances without requiring the addition of anyartificial colorings or flavors. In the past many liqueurs have beenproduced by fermenting a specific herb or group of herbs and/or fruitand the like in the conventional manner, followed by distillation of theresulting mash to the desired concentration (proof) of alcohol desired.Alternatively, various flavor and coloring extracts and additives havebeen incorporated into alcohol bases, however, these procedures havegenerally required distillation. Thus, generally either the flavors area flavor distillate or the composition is distilled to produce thedesired alcoholic content.

The present invention differs from previously known methods of producingliqueurs in that it utilizes milk and involves no distillation and usesno artificial flavoring or coloring. The essential ingredients inpreparing the liqueur of this invention are uncooked, homogenized milk,sugar, lemon, vanilla and alcohol. Instead of the usual brandy basewhich is employed by many liqueurs, the liqueur of this inventionutilizes pure 95 percent ethylalcohol and contains the major portion orthe nutritive content of milk and derives additional flavor and coloringfrom the lemon and vanilla. The addition of the sugar to the formulationis to characterize its sweetness and result in its classification as aliqueur.

Prior art procedures involving distillation result in a time consumingand expensive operation and also may result in alteration ordeterioration of the flavor. The present process avoids distillation andthereby prevents the development of off-flavors and loss of valuablevolatile constituents. The high nutritive quality of milk is retained inthe product and the precipitate which contains much of the protein andfat from the milk can be recovered and used for other purposes.

In carrying out the invention, in its more particular aspects, asuitable vessel, reactor or other container suitable for fermentationprocesses, preferably provided with a cover is used. Apparatus forfermentation processes are well known in the art and any suitableapparatus can be used for this invention. The ingredients may be chargedto the reaction vessel in any convenient manner. The milk is uncookedand homogenized, the sugar preferably in the form of fine granulatedsugar, the lemon may conveniently be cut into small pieces, for exampleA: inch to 1 inch sections and the vanilla is also in small pieces orfinely divided form. The alcohol employed is pure. 95 percent ethylalcohol (190 proof). The ingredients are mixedtogether and permitted toundergo fermentation for a period ranging from to days, preferably about14 days in the absence of light. Intermittent agitation can be providedduring the fermentation. Thereafter the solids are filtered and at thisstage, the filtrate which is liqueur may be bottled and packaged. Thesolids recovered in the precipitate contain the fat and protein contentof the milk which can be used for other purposes, such as animal feed,specialty foods for persons on restricted diets and the like.

In accordance with a further embodiment of the invention a secondfermentation may be carried out after filtration of solids followingcompletion of the initial fermentation step. For example, afterfiltration of the solids from the initial fermentation, the filtratewhich is liqueur may be further treated by adding thereto and mixingtherewith additional whole milk (uncooked) and carrying out anotherfermentation reaction. The milk may be added to the filtrate in theproportions of 30 to 50 percent by volume milk to 50 to 70 percent byvolume of the liqueur. Preferably, the amount of milk that is added tothe liqueur is four parts by volume percent) of whole milk to 6 parts byvolume (60 percent) of liqueur. The second fermentation step may beconducted under the same conditions as the first fermentation step,although this can be varied to be shorter or longer as desired. Nodistillation or special heating is necessary. At the conclusion of thesecond fennentation step, a heavy casein like mass is obtained which mayagain be filtered to produce the final product. As a result of thesecond fermentation step, the liqueur product has a much smoother, lessalcoholic irritating, taste with the result that a superior, morepalatable drink is obtained.

' By carrying out the second fermentation step, a more dietetic drink isobtained wherein the amount of sweet ness is considerably reduced.

The following examples are illustrative of the present invention:

EXAMPLE 1 cover, the

D The ingredients are mixed together and permitted to undergofermentation for 14 days with agitationfrom time to time. Thefermentation is carried out in the dark. Thereafter, the composition isfiltered to remove the milk solids and the filtrate liqueur is ready forbottling and packaging.

EXAMPLE ll Using the filtrate liqueur produced in Example I, a secondfermentation step is carried out as follows: 7

4 parts by volume of whole, uncooked milk 6 parts by volume of theliqueur product of Example The above ingredients are mixed together andpermitted to undergo fermentation for a period of 14 days with agitationfrom time to time. The fermentation is carried out in the dark. Afterconclusion of the fermentation a heavy,casein like mass is obtainedwhich is then filtered. The filtrate liqueur is then ready forpackaging.

The vanilla bean used according to this invention is usually obtained inlengths of about 5-10 inches, and

averages about 6 inches in length. This bean is referred to as a stick"of vanilla in the example.

While the nature of the liqueur of this invention ,is such that theproportions can be varied as will be clear to one skilled in the art, asa general guideline the mixture comprises to percent by volume of themilk, 40 to 50 percent by volume of percent ethyl alcohol, 4 to 5 poundsof granulated sugar per gallon of the mixture, 4 to 5 average sizedlemons per gallon of mixture, 1% to 3 sticks of vanilla per gallon ofmixture.

The preferred composition contains the following proportions:

55.5 percent by volume, uncooked, homogenized milk 44.5 percent volume,95 percent ethyl alcohol 4.45 pounds of granulated sugar per gallon 4.5average sized lemons per gallon 2% sticks of vanilla per gallon Thefermentation is generally carried out at room temperature or ambienttemperature and does not require any heating. No distillation isrequired and the fermented composition can be filtered with anycustomary filtering equipment and procedures which are known in theliqueur art. Similarly, the equipment employed in carrying out thefermentation, i.e., the containers and agitation means are any of thosewhich are readily available and widely known in the fermentation art.

I claim:

1. A method for the production of a liqueur which comprises forming amixture of the following ingredients:

uncooked homogenized milk 95 percent (190 proof) ethyl alcoholgranulated sugar lemons cut into small pieces vanilla covering theingredients and fermenting the ingredients essentially in the absence oflight for a period of from to days, and thereafter filtering the solidsto obtain the liqueur filtrate ready for bottling.

2. The method as defined in claim 1 wherein the ingredients are agitatedduring the fermenting period.

3. The method as defined in claim 1 wherein the temperature duringfermentation is ambient temperature.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein the milk is present in the amount ofabout 50-60 percent by volume.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein the milk is present in the amount ofabout 55.5 percent by volume.

6. The method as defined in claim 1 wherein the mixture comprises:

50 to 60 percent by volume, uncooked, homogenized milk 40 to 50 percentby volume, 95 percent ethyl alcohol 4 to 5 pounds of granulated sugarper gallon of mixture 4 to 5 average lemons per gallon of mixture 1% to3 sticks of vanilla per gallon of mixture.

7. The method as defined in claim 1 wherein the mixture comprises:

55.5 percent by volume, uncooked, homogenized milk 44.5 percent byvolume, 95 percent ethyl alcohol 4.45 pounds of granualted sugar pergallon of mixture 4.5 average lemons cut into small pieces per gallon ofmixture 2% sticks of vanilla per gallon of mixture.

8. The method of claim 1 which includes the further step of contactingsaid liqueur filtrate with additional whole, uncooked milk and carryingout a second fermentation step, filtering the solids and obtaining aliqueur filtrate ready for bottling.

9. The method as set forth in claim 8 wherein the additional milk ispresent in the amount of 30 to 50 percent by volume and the amount ofliqueur is 50 to percent by volume.

10. The method as set forth in claim 8 wherein the additional milk ispresent in the amount of 40 percent by volume and the amount of liqueuris 60 percent by volume.

11. A liqueur composition prepared in accordance with the method ofclaim 1.

12. A liqueur composition prepared in accordance with the method ofclaim 8.

2. The method as defined in claim 1 wherein the ingredients are agitatedduring the fermenting period.
 3. The method as defined in claim 1wherein the temperature during fermentation is ambient temperature. 4.The method of claim 1 wherein the milk is present in the amount of about50-60 percent by volume.
 5. The method of claim 1 wherein the milk ispresent in the amount of about 55.5 percent by volume.
 6. The method asdefined in claim 1 wherein the mixture comprises: 50 to 60 percent byvolume, uncooked, homogenized milk 40 to 50 percent by volume, 95percent ethyl alcohol 4 to 5 pounds of granulated sugar per gallon ofmixture 4 to 5 average lemons per gallon of mixture 1 3/4 to 3 sticks ofvanilla per gallon of mixture.
 7. The method as defined in claim 1wherein the mixture comprises: 55.5 percent by volume, uncooked,homogenized milk 44.5 percent by volume, 95 percent ethyl alcohol 4.45pounds of granualted sugar per gallon of mixture 4.5 average lemons cutinto small pieces per gallon of mixture 2 1/4 sticks of vanilla pergallon of mixture.
 8. The method of claim 1 which includes the furtherstep of contacting said liqueur filtrate with additional whole, uncookedmilk and carrying out a second fermentation step, filtering the solidsand obtaining a liqueur filtrate ready for bottling.
 9. The method asset forth in claim 8 wherein the additional milk is present in theamount of 30 to 50 percent by volume and the amount of liqueur is 50 to70 percent by volume.
 10. The method as set forth in claim 8 wherein theadditional milk is present in the amount of 40 percent by volume and theamount of liqueur is 60 percent by volume.
 11. A liqueur compositionprepared in accordance with the method of claim
 1. 12. A liqueurcomposition prepared in accordance with the method of claim 8.